Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) tools and procedures are often preferred over traditional open surgical approaches due to their propensity toward reducing post-operative recovery time and leaving minimal scarring. Endoscopic surgery is one type of MIS procedure in which a surgical tool operably connected to an elongate shaft is introduced into the body of a patient through a natural bodily orifice. Laparoscopic surgery is a related type of MIS procedure in which a small incision is formed in the abdomen of a patient and a trocar is inserted through the incision to form a surgical access pathway for a surgical tool and elongate shaft. Once located within the abdomen, the surgical tool engages and/or treats tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect. Manipulation and engagement of the surgical tool may take place via various components passing through the elongate shaft.
One surgical instrument commonly used with a trocar is a surgical clip applier, which can be used to ligate blood vessels, ducts, shunts, or portions of body tissue during surgery. Traditional surgical clip appliers have a handle and an elongate shaft extending from the handle. A pair of movable opposed jaws is positioned at the end of the elongate shaft for holding and forming a surgical clip or “ligation clip” therebetween. In operation, a user (e.g., a surgeon or clinician) positions the jaws around the vessel or duct and squeezes a trigger on the handle to close the jaws and thereby collapse the surgical clip over the vessel.
More recently, however, robotic systems have been developed to assist in MIS procedures. Instead of directly engaging a surgical instrument, users are now able to manipulate and engage surgical instruments via an electronic interface communicatively coupled to a robotic manipulator. With the advances of robotic surgery, a user need not even be in the operating room with the patient during the surgery.
Robotic surgical systems are also now capable of utilizing robotically controlled clip appliers. Such clip appliers include features for robotically feeding and forming surgical clips. Advances and improvements to the methods and devices for applying surgical clips to vessels, ducts, shunts, etc. is continuously in demand to make the process more efficient and safe.